A/N: So here is the next part. I hope you like it.
Although here is a reminder: By now it is obvious that this story is following the enemies to lover trope.
And you can't have that without the enemies stage. Just saying.
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Disclaimer : I own nothing.
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Warnings : M rated story that may occasionally include dark themes.
Many thanks to the amazing Anastasia Dreams for her beta work! Always grateful here!
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Songs used as inspiration for this chapter :
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) by Nancy Sinatra
(Additional versions: By Cher, By Nico Vega, By Monophonics)
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Chapter 10: Bang Bang, my Baby Shot me Down
He wore black, and I wore white
He would always win the fight
When I grew up I called him mine
He would always laugh and say:
..."Remember when we used to play?"
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Klaus inspected the scene in front of him with a glacial stare.
The only sound that could be heard was the chirping of the birds because as per usual after this kind of bloodletting silence prevailed. Deadly, blessed silence, to mourn the dead and soothe the living.
But where the sound ended color exploded.
There was more red in the gardens now. More vibrant, less dull and far bloodier than what Esther's roses could provide in their blooming magnificence. Klaus' eyes dully surveyed every shade and every color under the sun and he imagined how he'd depict this image into his next painting, but he lacked the necessary inspiration that usually burst through him in times like these.
He looked around. He didn't need any explanation as to what happened. As expected, Kol placed the seed of discord effortlessly and the end result was to be expected. Glorious mayhem really. Even he could appreciate Kol's art. This could have been one hell of a risk for them too but their men sustained no casualties.
He had taught his brother well and as a student, Kol excelled in what had now become his mastery.
Chaos.
Chaos lethal for their enemies and a joy for their own.
A joy that was weirdly absent in Klaus now that the pandemonium was subdued and he stood in the midst of the aftermath; instead he found himself somehow detached in comparison with Kol who was happily energized and relishing the surge of adrenaline despite how he seemed aloof as he lounged against one of the trees only a few feet further from the cluster of people that surrounded the area.
All these people here irritated Klaus but he knew their presence would be necessary for what was to follow. All better for the dramatic effect, he thought sourly but instead of rejoicing over his brother's effectiveness all he wanted was to mow down everyone in a close radius.
"Everyone get back to your posts."
His tone and his stony glare were so cold that the order ricocheted faster than the bullets that had been shot.
It was too late for take backs now, however.
He had lulled his enemies into safety long enough for this strike to become more effective.
His enemies….Caroline.
Caroline being his enemy was such a peculiar concept but nonetheless true. She was his enemy. She was his wife. She was his…something that he could not quite explain. But by all means she was his.
His …Caroline.
He armed himself embracing the simple fact that Caroline being his wouldn't spare her from what he had to do. If anything it was the other way around because it was time for her to start paying the price for her betrayal.
He would have to bring her here and it wasn't hard to imagine what would soon follow. She was going to be upset. Hurt.
A vein ticked in Klaus' temple.
This wasn't any different from what he had done only a few hours ago in the presence of the Salvatore brothers and yet now this didn't move him. It didn't satisfy him.
Klaus felt weirdly detached and the sense of accomplishment he desperately sought was absent. The rush was just not there. Instead, a feeling, peculiarly close to what guilt would feel like if he ever knew what that could possibly be, lingered.
Klaus tried to regain his equilibrium, feeling nauseated before he tried to actually give an identity to that feeling.
No, it wasn't guilt. It was something else. Far more intimate.
A frown appeared on his face, his forehead creasing as he stepped on the blood-smeared grass, the crutching sloppy sound leaving him apathetic. He would have known if he was growing a conscience he supposed. No. Murder was still one of his cravings. He longed for it as others longed for a shot of heroin.
This sensation, so similar to an ache, was coming from a different place and unfortunately, he already knew from where.
He could feel the thorn that was lodged deep in his gut. He couldn't pull it out. It had ravaged him only a few minutes before after all.
The sight of blood never bothered him but for some reason, he still felt Caroline's touch lingering on his fingers and the ghost of her blank gaze when she had seen the blood on his clothes.
Her lips on his skin, so close to a kiss.
He had her. For a few precious moments, there was a crack in her defenses. And what came out was like only but a crumb a starving man would plead for. But it was a start. He felt it and he breathed into it, feeling as if he had touched the sun. It burned and bathed him in light and he had wanted it as he had wanted nothing else before it.
And she wanted it too. He had felt it. Caroline had been lured closer to him. He had her …and he had lost her.
The sight of blood alone snatched her away and he couldn't reach her.
He had faltered. In that moment he had wanted to keep her and not let her go. He had been ready to do anything. Good or bad. To force her. To seduce her. To take her. To tell her the truth. To lay all his so carefully laid out plans at her feet. Even he didn't know what he was capable of. All he knew what that he wanted to bind her to his side and never let her go and yet there was an ocean between them. An ocean of blood.
Klaus stared at all the blood in front to him and couldn't help but wonder…If she had looked at him like that before, how would she look at him now?
Surely not as she had when she had tried to stop him from getting out of the house. She had been forcibly pulled away to safety he remembered. Instinctively, she had held on to him.
Caroline hadn't wanted him dead, Klaus realized.
But she would now.
"Call the Doc for the cleanup," he ordered one of his most trusted men and before the man rushed to obey his order he added with a solemn tone, "but before that…" he paused enough for his muscles to coil. Klaus' body was preparing for a blow he understood despite having no immediate physical danger close by. Only his instincts knew better. There was no turning back now.
He only wondered if this was how Caroline had felt before she had stabbed him in the back.
"…bring my wife here."
His man bowed and quickly left.
Kol kept his casual pose but a smirk was now curved on his face. One Klaus couldn't share.
"All will be well Mrs. Mikaelson. But please do refrain from going anywhere near the windows."
At the sound of the reasonable repeated advice, Caroline wanted to scream. The whole house was in a lockdown and she practically was under arrest in the bedroom. The curtains were drawn closed and Caroline felt as if she was suffocating. George's kind voice did nothing to soothe her worry neither did the fact that even George carried a gun.
Klaus' guards had locked her in her room. Keeping her in and everyone else but her and George out.
The butler had tried to ease her worries and keep her away from the windows no matter how much she wanted to go and see what was happening.
Nothing like this had ever happened in her house. She was at a loss and from the looks of it so was George. That alone proved to her that whatever happened here today hadn't happened before either.
Time seemed to move slowly. So very slow. It was messing with her mind and she found herself worrying not just for her safety but for Klaus too. Not to mention she had men here too now. Along with the Mikaelson guards but she couldn't think clearly right now.
Either way, she was trapped in this room with no way out. Her only lifeline was the Mikaelson guards outside her door that were ready to kill anyone on sight. Or her in case it was needed she assumed but she wouldn't allow her mind to go there. The chances for that had to be slim, or so she hoped.
She couldn't understand what was happening. The Mikaelson House was practically a fortress.
Unless it was an inside job.
Caroline stared at her black phone screen again feeling the need to smash the phone into a thousand pieces since it was not working. She didn't know what jammed the signal but she assumed it had something to do with the Mikaelson security since George was calm about it. And Caroline could bet that the Mikaelsons had a way to communicate with the outside world or with each other but she wasn't given that option.
Something, however, told her that the nontraceable phone Mikael gave her would be helpful right about now but despite her fear George's presence kept her from reaching it. She couldn't display her cards like this. Not just yet. And Mikael suspiciously wasn't in the house today.
Caroline tried to collect her thoughts.
She had to wait this whole thing out. She had to keep her calm. It could be nothing. Or something.
Caroline knew however that if the guards outside her door fired against a threat it would be too late. And the fact there was no sign from Klaus so far made her mind duel in horrific scenarios. She really didn't know if this was for the best or not. Maybe she was doing this all wrong. Maybe Klaus was already dead.
No. She couldn't think that way.
She had to wait this out and so she did that despite how hard it was.
She had waited along with George with bated breath but the fear gave way to a place of dread when her door finally opened and Klaus' guards informed her that she was…summoned.
Klaus had sent one of his men to tell her to go and join him in the gardens. Nothing else was revealed to her which made her anxiety multiply.
She knew that this summoning couldn't be good. Not after the gunshots. Not when Klaus wouldn't have a reason to include her in this. The danger, whatever that danger was, must have passed because she knew Klaus wouldn't allow her to get out of the house otherwise but she could tell that this was only a prelude to something she wouldn't like. Especially given the way the guard gruffly looked at her. He offered no explanations. He simply followed Klaus' command and she followed him, trying to fight back the foreboding feeling she got.
George stayed behind since the guard made it clear that Klaus had asked only for his wife to join him which was also not a good sign.
Things outside were now different. The madness that existed moments before was gone. Instead, stillness had fallen everywhere and a kind of preternatural silence had now taken the place of the chaotic sounds of bullets firing all around and the alarms going off like crazy. It wasn't helping Caroline to relax at all.
Minutes later Caroline found herself walking on the stone path that led close to one of the east buildings where a part of the Mikaelson security resided. She had never been to this part of the estate before so she followed the guard closely trying to match his long strides. This place was like a maze and she didn't want to fall behind.
It was then that she heard some whispers. She didn't know these voices and soon she realized why. She hadn't gotten that much acquainted with the personnel in the main part of the estate but there were more people working for the Mikaelsons. People she hadn't seen even once so far. Peasants, Rebekah Mikaelson called them.
People who lingered far away from the mansion, at the soldier towers where the most trusted men of the Mikaelsons lived along with the house's security guards. The Mikaelsons literally hosted an army on their grounds and had more people working there too. For cooking and cleaning, gardening, house chores and whatever else was needed. Those people usually belonged to the families of the men or were hired to look after the establishments of the guards or the soldiers.
Those that worked in the mansion always knew to look the other way and stay completely detached. If they gossiped they did it in private and without anyone seeing or hearing them. They were perfectly trained to remain effective and unseen and had, of course, signed confidentiality agreements. These people saw nothing, heard nothing.
The people here knew how to keep their mouths shut too, of course. The outside world was cut out from the inner workings of the Mikaelson home but here, deep in the maze of the gardens which also worked as a barrier between the mansion and the rest of the estate the world changed.
The difference was that the staff here was not as cold and professional as those that were singlehandedly chosen by George to personally serve the Mikaelsons.
Caroline saw that most people here had left their posts and had approached the stone pillars that led to some steps peeking out from a safe distance. They wouldn't dare go anywhere near those steps and much more any further, but they kept chattering anxiously and gossiped passionately.
They hadn't seen her yet so they kept talking freely. Caroline tried to listen to what they were saying.
"Accident…", "They killed each other."…"Damn Salvatores."…."Such a pity."…"We shouldn't go near them."…"I swear Kol cackled!"…."They fought like crazy."…"How many bullets…"… "who will clean this up now?"
Caroline tried to make sense of what was happening but she couldn't and the guard in front of her kept walking fast. She was trying to keep up and everyone stopped talking when they realized she was there. They lowered their heads and started dispersing fearfully.
Caroline let out a worried huff and kept walking.
There were more people gathered as she followed the stone steps downward. Only those people were not servants or gossipers. They were soldiers.
She saw two groups both at her left and right. The one group consisted of Mikaelson men and the other had a few members of her guard. She saw disarmed men and noticed how they were keeping their distance. Some were being held back. Most had grim faces and others watched provocatively with mirth.
Some watched her accusingly and her brow furrowed when she saw a few men limping away.
Wait…were they nursing bullet wounds?
She knew the men trained on these grounds but this looked different. It was a frightening sight accompanied by a more eerie feeling. Something had gone terribly wrong.
What had happened?
It couldn't be an outside attack. If it was she wouldn't be here.
Caroline saw a few bloody noses and some bruised faces but as she walked closer to where the guard was taking her there was only silence.
There. In the clearing. Under the cedar tree.
She could smell smoke.
Faintly.
She knew that scent. It only lingered in the air after heavy gunfire.
She didn't think the gunfire from here could be heard in the mansion which meant that whatever happened it was of a far greater scale but started or… ended here.
The guard stopped and he could have as well turned to a statue because he didn't move or speak. He delivered her to his boss so he only waited now.
The next thing Caroline saw in the small clearing close to one of the old fountains was a human wall of guards shielding Klaus and no one spoke as she approached them and tried to see what they were hiding from view.
The sun was casting shadows through the cedar tree and it kind of created an illusion of light and darkness, making everything seem unreal but as some men parted reality came into sharp focus.
She saw Klaus standing in the center towering over something that she couldn't see.
Caroline frowned but kept her calm. Or so she tried.
This was like the calm before the storm and she couldn't help but shudder, her heartbeat racing now on a frantic beat.
"There is a reason why people seek shelter from storms."
The storm Caroline thought nervously as her aunt Laura's words from earlier came hauntingly back.
" You can't change them and …no one can protect you from them."
"What happened?" Caroline asked carefully and did not dare take another step forward. Her inner growing turmoil made her feel hot and cold. It kept multiplying and all she wanted was to turn around and go back. To not be here. To be anywhere but here.
She didn't want that curtain of people surrounding Klaus to part more and reveal what she didn't want to see.
Because she could notice on the grass sprinkles of blood and rounds of bullets tainting the green in wet blotches that resembled dew after rain thawing on roses. Only there were no roses or flowers. Only mud and blood that tainted Esther Mikaelson's perfection of a garden.
A terrible thing.
Terrible Caroline thought and she swallowed thickly when the men walked to the side while keeping their guns, guns that were already drawn and smoking, by their side.
In the corner of her eye, she could see Damon's and Montavaro's men in the distance, the muscles of their faces grimly taut, but it was something else that caught her attention because now that Klaus' men had moved she could finally clearly see it.
The body on the ground.
Klaus only extended his hand at the bleeding man…correction, at the bleeding boy and Caroline, felt her heart stopping right then and there.
No, she thought, No.
She couldn't move. She couldn't take her eyes away.
There was a cold feeling in her back, a presence there that added to her terror and soon that presence had a voice.
"It would seem it is not that easy to mix and match sworn enemies under the same roof. Who would have thought?" Kol whistled ironically as he came like a silent shadow and stood by her side looking at what she was looking too.
Only Kol's expression wasn't one of shock and dread. It was one of glee. Contradictory to the stern one Klaus had.
Klaus was staring at her with somber eyes that burned her. That gaze burned her so much that it cut through her terror and all that kept her speechless and unmoving and it was as if it brought her back to life.
Her glossy eyes focused.
On the broken body at Klaus' feet.
Omg! It was Jessie!
Her instincts took over and a breathless gasp escaped her lungs that had calcified before but now started overworking. She felt as if she had run for miles when in reality it had been only two steps as she ran over to Jessie and fell down on her knees beside him.
Her heart was beating frantically, a thousand thoughts and memories crashing over her as she tried to help her friend.
This couldn't be happening! No!
This was Jessie for God's sake! And he was bleeding right in front of her. He was lying in his own pool of blood that kept spreading on the grass blades turning them crimson. It soaked through her jeans making her knees slippery.
And Jessie was just lying there.
Blood was pouring from his belly and chest. His throat was wide open. The wound gruesome, the skin horrifically torn apart. His head almost detached from its shoulders.
Only this couldn't be really. It couldn't.
He couldn't be dead. No, he couldn't! This couldn't be happening. Jessie wasn't that much younger than her, only a couple of years younger which still made him so young.
Jessie, sweet Jessie, who she had babysat for a few years ago.
She had been fourteen and he had been only a boy when his mother would bring him to their house after the death of his father.
Caroline remembered that back then she had started to understand that her father's men had been dying like flies at the hands of the Mikaelsons and that at the age of fourteen she was old enough to understand what an enemy truly meant but Jessie couldn't get just there yet. His father had died in a job gone wrong…if someone could call illegal gun smuggling a job. Mikael's men had cut him to pieces and flaunted the remains at their territory far away from her father's domain only to spite Giuseppe.
Retaliation upon retaliation followed.
Caroline remembered the aftermath all too well. Later on, Jessie's mother started drinking to the point where she couldn't take care of her son and when Giuseppe had arranged for her to get married again Julia started bringing her son to the Salvatore mansion because her new husband didn't like the kid much.
And Jessie had been so sweet. He hated guns and violence despite getting acquainted with both at the age of six when all he had wanted was to become a doctor and not a soldier but his father and later on his stepfather wouldn't let him, no matter how much Jessie hated hurting others. That was of course until Damon got his hands on him and trained him. Hard and without mercy to kill every soft spot he deemed a weakness.
Caroline had learned that when she had gone to college, Jessie was sent to work under Montavaro's care. And now…now Jessie was lying there bleeding under her trembling hands. His mouth was gaping open. His skin ashen.
He shouldn't have even been here! He was still so young. Caroline shook him over and over again.
He wasn't a man yet. Not in her eyes. He was only a boy.
The world had vanished around her. She didn't hear anything. Someone was calling her name but she couldn't react, she couldn't listen. She couldn't do anything.
Helpless. She was helpless and Jessie was dying. Like his father had. Like everyone else did.
A sob became a huge knot in her throat. Her hands felt cold but they were warm. Warm and so sticky. So wet. Blood had covered them. Hot blood that was turning cold. Cold blood that wouldn't stop running. It wasn't just a drop. It wasn't just the taste Klaus had promised her. It was an ocean.
She had to make it stop. She had to. She tried to put pressure on the wound on Jessie's chest but she couldn't. He wasn't breathing. Why wasn't he breathing?
Right. His throat was mauled open.
She started panicking yelling for someone to help her. To help Jessie. Jessie that was staring at the sky with vacant eyes. Lifeless eyes.
Why wasn't anyone else helping her? She had to save him. She had to…they had to…to save Jessie. To help her friend. One of the only ones she had left. And she had left him back when she went to college and forgot he even existed. She hadn't looked back and she pretended Chicago didn't exist for her anymore.
She had forgotten Jessie. She had chosen to do that.
She forgot how Jessie had looked at her almost heartbroken when she had left because she was able to go study and he would never get that chance. She forgot how he was the one that helped her sneak out all the time just so she could go to the movies with Elena. She forgot how he used to have a crush on her and then she had never returned his calls again.
She forgot him because she felt guilty that she had gotten out and he hadn't. And then she forgot because she was forced to return and everyone in this life felt like a burden. She forgot and Jessie still volunteered to come here to make sure she would remain safe.
And now she wouldn't have the chance to tell him how sorry she was. How selfish.
She looked up through the tears that blinded her. Her eyes searched for someone to help her but even Montavaro's men were not there to offer her any sympathy. It was not as if they truly cared. Damon's men were smarter. They were standing a few feet away being neutral, ready to intervene only if her life was in jeopardy but otherwise she was on her own.
There was no mercy to be given to the dead. Just one more casualty. Just one more reason to hate but not because they actually cared.
No one would help her. No one would help Jessie. Not Klaus' men and not her own that… weren't her own. They never were, not before and certainly not now that she was Klaus' wife. A mafia wife. One of the weak ones apparently. So they would think. So they thought. Caroline could feel it in the way they looked at her. With unsympathetic eyes. With pity or disgust even. She had fallen from grace. Straight into madness. She was weak. Not a Salvatore. Not a Mikaelson. Only weak.
This weakness was only showing them how women were not cut out for this. How pathetic and powerless she actually was.
But how could she let that boy die?
If it was anyone else and not Jessie she wouldn't have lost it like this in front of everyone.
But it was her friend. Her dead friend.
She shook her head. She wanted to yell and scream and she started shaking Jessie mumbling to him to get up.
She felt Klaus' hands on her shoulders pulling her back. Gently. But she struggled. She didn't want his touch. She didn't want anything from him. Only for him to let her go. Only to help her friend.
"He is dead, love," Klaus gently told her and firmly pulled her up despite how she tried to get away from him.
No, he couldn't be dead. He couldn't!
But Klaus wouldn't let her go. He wouldn't let her help Jessie. He pulled her further away from the broken body on the ground.
Her knees buckled. She tried to turn back but Klaus' hand held the back of her head and pushed her against his chest to make sure she wouldn't stare at the dead body anymore. Her hands balled and she hit him. Hard. But he was like a pillar of unmoving stone that wouldn't budge.
Klaus held her and she lost all will to fight. She was drenched in blood, in Jessie's blood but Klaus' embrace was warm. She was in his arms and she didn't have to see Jessie anymore.
She could just give in. In that masculine scent. In his soothing caress, up and down her back and arms. In that cocoon of safety that was all danger but lured her in like nothing else before.
She felt all eyes on her. Burning holes on her back and she froze.
This was all it took. Klaus was caressing her hair as if she was a child. His touch was not meant to sooth. It was meant to patronize. A mockery.
And just like that Klaus had gotten back all control again. Showing to everyone who was in charge just by showing how weak she was. How predictable. The loving husband that Montavaro's men would have no reason to attack since he cared for their princess who was now his broken queen. And so they didn't really need to be here. Klaus made sure this would be how this whole charade would look like.
Caroline fisted Klaus' blouse and regained her composure. Slowly. She had to. She even drew power from his steady heartbeat that echoed in her ear like a constant drum. She let her body relax and let her breathing get in sync with that comforting sound. She hated herself for that but she did it anyway. It was comforting and it was Klaus' hands that were soothing on her hair and back. It felt as if the world had vanished around them and they were on their own.
Only the world was still there and that reminder was enough to spark her rage to life again.
She wanted to scream and fight and kick. She wanted to curse and tell Klaus to let her go and take his hands off her but she couldn't because then she would have to face reality. She would have to stare at Jessie's corpse again. She would have to look down and see herself covered in his blood.
And yet she had to.
"Let me go," she whispered and Klaus, albeit reluctantly, did as she asked. She took a step back and lifted her head to see his eyes. His eyes that glittered like coals ignited with fire. He seemed to like seeing blood on her and the violence that broke in her gaze gave him the challenge he so craved. It ignited between them and then it turned her to ice when she stumbled back and saw Jessie's body again. She steadied herself and wiped her eyes not caring for the bloodstains that sullied her face.
She didn't take away her gaze from Jessie now but she didn't break into pieces either.
"We should offer our deepest condolences and you dear sister should compensate the family of the boy you got killed," Kol mocked her and Caroline inhaled sharply just as Klaus glared at his brother.
"Deal with the mess," Klaus ordered and Kolplayfully bowed.
"As always Nik."
Caroline gritted her teeth just as Kol raised his hand. To dispose of Jessie's body.
She wouldn't let him or his men touch him.
Never.
The Mikaelsons had done enough for one day so she pinned Kol with a glare of her own making his eyes narrow and his hand fall before he could even lift it. She was determined and before Klaus could reach her she went to Jessie and knelt down drawing all the attention. This time she wasn't frantic or out of control. This time she only placed her hand over Jessie's ice-cold face and closed his eyelids. Respectfully.
She wouldn't forget him. Never again.
She would never forget this.
She closed her eyes and hung her head only for a moment before she forced herself to stand.
Tall, stand tall, she ordered herself and she kept repeating that order like a chant in her head. Just like the night, she married Klaus and she had to walk down the aisle. Stay strong, don't break. She could do this. She could turn her heart to stone and do what had to be done.
Caroline waited for a moment only to make sure that her voice would get out strong.
"This is not a mess for your brother to clean," Caroline stated coldly and Klaus looked taken aback for a second before he composed himself.
Only a second was more than enough to be seen by those observant enough and it leveled the playfield. Not by much but it was something. Something was better than nothing and she could build on that.
Caroline's voice was a bit hoarse, but she didn't back down as she faced Klaus in a battle of wills.
Now everyone was staring at her. Some with awe. Some with bleak eyes. Even Kol watched her with peculiar curiosity.
She stared straight ahead to those that dared to look at her and took a perverse joy when most of Klaus' men at least had the decency to look down. She was their leader's wife after all, not a circus and they had better remember this because one way or another she would be the one to remind them.
Caroline gave an oblique look to one of Montavaro's men that straightened his body and courageously approached her through the enemy lines. Straight through Klaus' men who cast murderous gazes at him. He even had to stand between her and Klaus and Caroline could swear there was a hint of fear in him. The kind that only Klaus could inspire but why didn't he inspire it in her? All she felt now was emptiness. But no fear. She wouldn't allow that luxury to herself. She wouldn't give in to fear. She wouldn't crumble. She would cry for Jessie later. On her own. Away from prying eyes.
Montavaro's man was waiting for her order and Caroline inclined her head at more of her men.
The air electrified.
She saw how everyone stiffened as three of Damon's men came to her side at once. She made sure to call for those that knew her ever since she was a child. Those that saw her like a little sister. Those who were not as hotheaded as the others. Most importantly those that might be Damon's men but also had close ties to Stefan.
She could see that even they seemed uncertain now that they had to follow her orders. She was a woman after all but she was also the one they had been assigned to protect and obey at all costs. That was the deal and these men followed orders.
Caroline watched Montavaro's man in front of her with hard eyes. She didn't have to ask what had happened. She could imagine all too well but even if she couldn't this was not a time to point blame or give an opening to Klaus for one more of his games that would leave her in a vulnerable position. Now it was her time to cut her losses and take charge even if it killed her inside.
She had to push all that she felt down. She knew how this went. She had seen her father and her brothers do it a hundred times in the past. She knew the drill and she had been one of the mourners of the fallen too many times to count.
She glanced at Jessie and took a step back ensuring that her men would now form their own circle around him. Jessie was their own after all.
"Gently," she all but said as Damon's men started gathering Jessie's body and then Caroline turned her attention to Giovanni's man before he could join her brother's soldiers in their task.
"What happened?" she demanded an answer and before he could speak one of Klaus' bolder men stepped up.
"Training accident Mrs. Mikaelson," Kol's lackey insulted her intelligence looking at Klaus' brother for approval but as she stared him down with contempt he lost some of his audacity. Especially when Klaus narrowed his eyes at him at the way he spoke at her. Klaus' men actually stepped back making sure that the man who had spoken like this to her would be sidelined now since their Boss put a mark on him.
"I see," Caroline said flatly before she looked at Giovanni's man that she had called forth, "was it?" she asked him again and he nodded gravely.
"Yes, Mrs. Caroline."
A lie.
She looked at one of her brother's men who also gave her a grave nod despite how he looked as if he was ready to strike and cause another fight. Caroline knew that they would never admit to her what had happened. Both sides wouldn't. It was a matter of honor and they would definitely aim to take care of this between them one way or another.
Altercations like this were expected but this went too far.
It was a powder keg ready to blow up but for now, she could only temporarily diffuse it.
"Make sure that next time you keep those mishaps to the minimum and most importantly outside of…my house," she told everyone who now looked at her ashamed since they understood she was the lady of the house. She wasn't Esther Mikaelson but she was Klaus' wife. Kol's man that had taunted her now blanched and hunched back. He was actually shaking which meant that there would be consequences and Caroline realized those would be handed by Klaus himself. Even Kol looked stern now.
But Klaus was no longer bothering with the insolent guard.
He was smiling.
Widely.
Caroline could feel his attention focused solely on her but refused to look at him now that he viewed her under another light. She felt his pleasure, his awe and even his pride at what she had just said.
Her house, as his wife.
She used that power to her advantage and she felt that even though it was meant to bring her and Klaus to a balance and a stalemate it still gave Klaus what he wanted. It was a no win situation for her. Either way, Klaus won and he knew it. He made her take her place as a Mikaelson and acknowledge publicly their bond. In front of his men and more importantly the men of her family. Damn him. It was the only way but damn him!
She would have time to lament this later. Now Caroline only focused her attention on Montavaro's guard.
"Make sure his body is delivered to his mother and inform my brother and uncle Giovanni," she commanded, making sure to point at her familial relations with the two formidable men of her family's side. She wouldn't give to Klaus all that he wanted and waited until his smile dimmed before it turned to a knowing smirk.
Caroline didn't avert her eyes from his. She also knew she had to do one more thing.
She already made sure everyone heard her. Damon and Giovanni would learn what happened here today. It would not stay hidden and eventually, everyone would have to answer for this.
Because yes. Klaus could inspire terror. But so could Damon Salvatore and Giovanni Montavaro.
Unless she could give them mercy and regained control.
And she would. No matter what it would cost her or the toll it would take on her soul.
"I want everything arranged by nightfall," she continued, "Give my condolences to his family and tell them I will personally take care of the funeral and the expenses."
The man nodded at her and bowed respectfully and Caroline tried not to flinch as Jessie's body was being carried away. Everyone now watched her with renewed interest. Even Kol Mikaelson. She knew how she looked with all the blood on her but she refused to fidget.
"We will all have to learn how to coexist," she said making sure her voice would be heard by everyone and then felt bile rising at her next words that she almost spat out but instead softly forced out, "better to put accidents like this behind us."
Jessie's death an…accident.
She declared it. No one would avenge him. Just a waste to be forgotten after the fancy funeral she'd throw him.
She could not do this before as a daughter but she was a married woman now and she had already stepped up as the lady of the house and this was her house now. That gave her a few advantages. Her position meant something if she could use it correctly. She was never to be disrespected in her house and she was Klaus' extension here. But she also carried the Salvatore name too. Both sides had to acknowledge her right to not be slighted in her own home.
Klaus watched her now intently but she could barely contain her anger. She was like a raw nerve ending exposed to agonizing stimulants all at once and she knew the source of her pain was the man that stared at her now as if he wanted to both devour her and destroy her.
This wasn't the man she had seen only a few hours ago at the foyer of the Mikaelson mansion. The man in whom she had so foolishly believed she had seen a glimpse of humanity. The man that had wanted to speak to her, to open up to her. The man she believed had fallen over her to protect her.
How could she have believed even for a second that Klaus was capable of anything but violence and evil? There was no guilt in him. Nothing gentle. She was idiotically drawn to the monster she had believed it to be human. Only he wasn't and he would never be. No matter how many roses he would leave at her pillow. It didn't matter when he would litter her doorsteps with just as many corpses.
Caroline couldn't take this any longer. She glared at Klaus with revulsion and strode away. Past him. Without acknowledging him not caring at all for how this would look. She didn't care to respect that monster or play by his rules.
They had declared war on each other, that much was obvious, and he had taken the first literal shot.
He had killed someone she cared for. This couldn't be a coincidence. This was Jessie. It was retaliation.
God… Jessie was dead.
Another wave of nausea hit her but she stifled it and kept walking. She had to leave this place. She had to go away, to wash the blood away. She had to put some distance between all the blood and herself. Between her and Klaus.
She felt her body propelled to the side as Klaus stopped her marching strides by gripping her elbow and keeping her by his side. Of course, he wouldn't let leave like this. Not in front of his and her men.
He pushed her close to him and she yanked her hand away in fury. This time his touch didn't enthrall her. This time it felt as if it was as contagious as the plague.
Caroline halted however and turned around to face him.
Her nose scrunched in disgust and she tried to leave but Klaus gave her a forbidding look as his fingers wrapped around her wrist.
This wasn't the man that tried to stop her from walking up the stairs inside the house. No. There was nothing to veil his true intentions now.
"Don't make a scene, love," he advised her and gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear giving the impression, to all those the eyes that still followed them, of a loving husband that comforted his wife. "One breakdown is more than enough don't you think? Although I am quite impressed with how you handled this once you got over your hysteric tantrum."
His sarcasm and mocking compliment had her insides turn to liquid fire. She would explode and she hoped Klaus would burn. Burn straight to hell!
"How could you let this happen?" she accused him through gritted teeth. They were far away from their men but they could still be heard. Besides she couldn't scream because she wouldn't stop if she did.
"Me?" Klaus asked her sounding astounded, "this is all on you."
Caroline wretched her hand away mortified and took a step back shaking her head.
"No-"
"What did you think would happen, love?" Klaus pressed on not missing the opportunity to back her to a corner, "why do you think I did not put any of my men in your brother's house after the stunt you pulled? I could have," he shrugged, "your little ingenious idea surely gives me the opportunity to do so but I do not sacrifice my people for silly games. Mikael and Montavaro have another agenda to pull," he pointed out and then added after a meaningful pause, "as do you."
Caroline felt trapped inside her own skin. Klaus was like a hurricane and was taking her by storm.
He was really good and she felt so disoriented. Now that the adrenaline left her body she could barely function. And she couldn't keep up with Klaus.
"This is not-"
"You put killers that hate each other under the same roof," Klaus cut her off gaining steam where she could barely stand now, "what did you expect? Their guns are always loaded as are their tempers."
It was like a punch in the gut. It left her reeling.
Klaus was shifting the blame on her. And it was her now that was burning in hell. Shivers blanketed her whole body as Klaus came near her. He looked at her with affection and Caroline wondered how cruelty could mask as fondness in that man's eyes.
"Death is just a shot away sweetheart," he whispered injecting notes of temptation in his words but death was too raw on her flesh now. It was turning her to rot as if she was the one that had been shot down and not Jessie.
Klaus could turn her into a corpse while she still drew breath.
She had to fight back. She knew she had to.
She couldn't let him to this to her despite how powerless she felt and yet there was something else in his words. Like a dark promise. It was meant to taint her. To lure her into him. To kill her only for him to bring her back to life.
This was a game. She could see it in his eyes. A game of dominance and her heart was betraying her.
"This is just a taste," Klaus promised her. It was an unholy vow and Caroline stiffened as she heard in his voice the threat and the warning, "more is to come."
He made it sound like he was seducing her when in reality he was blackmailing her.
She tried not to react. She tried not to show the fear that pumped inside her veins with each erratic heartbeat that drummed in her chest painfully.
She was now opposing the Klaus Mikaelson everyone feared.
She feared him too but her fear was different. She could feel it in how potent it was and how addictive. She almost yearned for it. It was sick and she couldn't understand what was happening to her. It was almost as if she feared herself more. As if she was a thing to be feared too and that created a whirlwind of emotion she didn't want to deal with.
"You can put a stop to this, however."
Klaus' voice was tantalizing and Caroline felt as if she was drifting away. Doing what Klaus wanted meant mercy in his own twisted way but his mercy was worse than his cruelty.
He was still trying to manipulate her.
She both admired his skills and hated them.
"This is an opportunity," Klaus continued, "step up as you did a few moments ago and send them away. No one else needs to be hurt."
And there it was.
His trap had both vinegar and honey. A trap littered with corpses and blood all after her gentle heart.
Klaus was trying to regain the power he had lost.
She couldn't even look at him right now. He was using her best parts of her against her. Her humanity. Her morality. He was basically making it clear that there would be more death to come if she denied him and it would be on her hands. And in a way, it would be. They both knew it.
"Since when do you care about people getting hurt?" she blamed him and Klaus' smile turned feral.
"You obviously do."
Caroline went rigid. There was something in his eyes. In his voice.
If she had any doubts they were gone now.
This was the smile of a killer through and through. One that took pride in their kill.
He was behind this. He had given the order. A direct order.
This was his punishment for what she had done to him at the midnight dinner. He had specifically singled Jessie out.
Klaus had done his background check on her. Thoroughly. She wondered how deep he had dag. Did he know about Matt too? That thought alone turned her blood to ice.
Why was she surprised though? She shouldn't be. She should have seen it coming but this was far crueler than whatever else she had expected. Klaus was drowning her in blood, making her a killer without having her shoot even a bullet.
All because he knew how the weight of guilt would break her and all because he expected that same guilt to make her cave.
And maybe it would. If there wasn't a part of her that retaliated to Klaus' mind games for one reason and one alone.
He treated her like everyone else had treated her her whole life. As if she was a fragile thing that would bend and would break at the slightest force. He translated her empathy for weakness and her ability to care for a flaw.
And, at the same time, he was trying to force her hand. To take away from her the power she had ensured she had and show to everyone who still had all the control.
He wanted her to be dependent on him. As she had been in her whole life to all the other men that ordered her around despite how much they loved her. Her father, her brothers, uncle Giovanni. And now Klaus.
"So...love...do they leave or do they stay?"
The smugness in his voice infuriated her. He was so sure of himself. He believed that her getting the upper hand on him had been a fluke because she had ambushed him and now that he threatened to bring her a new corpse at her doorstep each day she would break down and do as she was told.
And she knew that he would. Klaus was capable of killing, one by one, everyone she had ever met, everyone she had ever loved.
Until he would be the only one left for her to …love?
Caroline looked down at her blood-covered hands and then at him. His clothes were still smeared with blood too. She had told him to go and wash.
Only none of them could wash away all this blood and Klaus didn't even want to. He had become accustomed to it. He craved it even.
Could she learn to do the same?
Could she one day be able to even the odds between them and repay the favor?
Klaus had sorted out Jessie. He had given the order and orchestrated the whole thing. In cold blood. Only to get back at her. She felt it deep in her gut. It was personal. A gift for her betrayal. Given to her with a bloody bow.
This wasn't Kol or any of the men from either battle lines. This wasn't just the opposite sides getting out of control. This was calculated. This had Klaus written all over it and she couldn't prove it. Not when her loving husband had fallen over her in order to protect her when the shooting began. Not when he acted all shocked. Not when he ran straight into danger.
But even if she could prove otherwise it was her that gave him the gasoline. The blood was warm in her hands but it quickly turned cold in her veins as she realized that she couldn't put out the fire now. She could only embrace it or get burned. Maybe both.
This was Klaus' game. And in his game, there would always be collateral damage. He would make sure that physically it wouldn't be her but the rest of her parts were fair game.
She faced the monster now and she had to let her own out of its cage in order to do so.
It didn't matter if she could grow to be like Klaus or not because it made no difference. She had to. It was not an option anymore. Not if she wanted to survive him.
She didn't worry about her life but if she wanted to save her mind she would have to find a way to stick to her guns. To find a way to get away from him. Even if she had to become like him to do so.
"They stay," she decided with an adamant tone and didn't withdraw her gaze from Klaus. She let him take in what she said. She let the fire between them burn. She didn't know where this would lead her. She had wanted to be saved from this marriage but in the end, she feared there would be nothing left of her to save.
She turned around and left. Back into the gilded cage, the Mikaelson estate. The place she had declared her house. The place that was nothing but a prison. But maybe one day she would get the keys to her prison, hoping that she would still have the wings to fly away.
Klaus watched Caroline walking away with a look of pure awe to the point where the surprise he felt was so overwhelming that he couldn't react.
He had almost caved today. She had seemed so vulnerable when he returned to the house. And she had approached him with that sweet kiss. It almost made him falter. He couldn't believe how a simple touch from her had been enough to make him doubt himself. To almost confess the truth and cancel the whole thing. And for a second there when the shooting had begun he had felt so disoriented, enchanted and taken by Caroline that his first and only instinct had been to protect her.
Only Caroline didn't need protection. If anything, she could very well turn out to be all that others would need protection from.
Because this right here was the real Caroline. Resolute. Uncompromising. Fragile looking but unbreakable beyond understanding. Here she was. The woman that didn't need his coddling. The one who responded to fire with fire. Defiant right down to the bone.
She was a revelation.
Just like at the midnight dinner, Caroline was managing to do what no one else ever could. She was catching him by surprise, dismantling his perfectly laid out plans, making him work harder to get only but a few steps ahead when he should be several.
Where her brothers failed today she didn't. She saw right through him. She knew she couldn't win so she ensured she would not face a crushing defeat and she turned her loss to a standstill.
She bent instead of breaking. Remarkable really.
Caroline was proving herself to be a formidable opponent indeed. Inexperienced but potentially terrifying and instead of anger he felt pleased with this outcome. The pride he felt also caught him off balance but he had learned to embrace the opportunities such obstacles brought instead of losing ground.
And there were many opportunities where Caroline was concerned. There was a challenge there that he could have never predicted and it made everything far more interesting.
Klaus' smile was all full of teeth as Caroline walked away with her head held high.
They were just beginning.
Klaus' smile didn't vanish until Caroline completely faded from his view as she took the steps upwards. Calculated steps. She didn't run away. She didn't break. She didn't do the walk of shame. She didn't look back either.
Stubborn little thing.
Her spine was made from steel now and she wouldn't show weakness.
He watched her. He felt her despair. And her obstinate control. He had followed her steps in the past every time Mikael had handed him a blow that left him off balance, broken and in rage.
So he knew that Caroline would walk slowly and steadily until she would be able to break down all alone in the privacy of her room far away from prying eyes. Then and only then she would lick her wounds and he could at least grant her that. He could give her time and distance.
He knew that Caroline would see him now as her worst enemy and any progress he had made towards making her fall in love with him would be hindered for now but it didn't matter. It was a necessary step in the right direction.
Hate was just as passionate and he could use that to his advantage too. It would confuse her; it would mess with her mind long enough for him to get into her heart. He was already in her head. He already claimed her guilt and soon enough she would not have any illusions left for he would shutter them. It was a pity that he would have to destroy her innocence to do so but in time Caroline would understand she was no better than him. As long as she operated with the belief that she was morally better she would never give their marriage a real chance and he would not allow this. He would have to get her down from her high horse and in exchange he would give her a throne to sit on.
There was a monster inside Caroline that would find a match to his own and she wouldn't be able to pretend that it didn't exist. In time the lines would be blurred enough for Caroline to give in to the desire that had already taken root inside her.
Lovers. Enemies. They could be both. They could have it all.
Because she wanted him. He had seen it today. In the foyer and in the gardens. For a few moments there she had even found shelter in his arms and shut the whole world and her friend's death away. Caroline sought him in the dark. Her deepest darkest desires belonged to him. She just didn't know what that meant yet but he would help her find out.
His smile turned tender and even though Caroline had disappeared from view he could only imagine the way she would enter the mansion and shock George and everyone in her path. Until she would reach their bedroom she would keep her commanding presence despite the way she looked all drenched in blood.
And there was so much blood on her. The kind of blood that so far had stopped her from reaching out to him. It was on her now. On her hands. On her soul.
He had baptized her in blood today and a new woman would emerge. It had been a risk. This could have broken Caroline's spirit but sometimes such risks gave the best results. Aside from what he had gained strategically in the game of chess he knew that Caroline would shed her old skin now. Pain always did that to people. He painted her red today and she would be reborn. Soon enough Caroline Salvatore would only be but a memory and in her place, Caroline Mikaelson would rise. Powerful, beautiful, and vengeful.
One he could hardly wait to meet and seduce but until then he had Kol's man to punish.
That idiot who dared to disrespect his Caroline and raise his unworthy eyes on her would not be able to do it ever again.
Or do anything else for that matter.
Stay strong, stay strong, don't break, you can do this…you can do this.
Those had been the words Caroline had kept chanting over and over inside her head the night she walked down the aisle to marry Klaus Mikaelson and those were the words she kept repeating in her head now as she slowly walked.
Slowly.
One step forward. One more and one again.
Breathing. In and out. Again.
Slowly.
You can do this, she kept saying to herself. A mantra that covered every other voice telling her that no, she couldn't do this.
Butno matter the odds Caroline couldn't allow herself to give in to that voice. She couldn't lose it again.
Only…there was blood everywhere. And if she looked down she'd see herself covered in Jessie's blood. She felt it as it clung onto her skin. Seeped into her flesh. Smearing her clothes. So much blood. It made her sick.
You can do this.
She could do this. She had to do this.
So she did.
Just like the night of her wedding she walked. She didn't run. She kept calm, she kept breathing. She kept the terror and the despair bottled up. Just like that night when her whole life was being dismantled and ruined, she didn't cry. She didn't scream. She didn't throw up. She didn't turn around to run in the other direction because she knew better than that. She had to play pretend. She had to force herself to do what she had to do because there was no other path for her to follow. There were no other options left for her rather than the dead end ahead.
And that dead end now had eyes that followed her.
Caroline had felt Klaus' smile following her, all the way into the mansion and she wanted to start running; only running would make her even more of a coward that she already was and she wouldn't give him that satisfaction too.
She had been such an idiot.
How could she have believed him to be anything but a monster? How could she have fantasized that he was capable of falling in love? Of feeling anything remotely human?
It would be laughable really if he hadn't made sure it would hurt so much instead.
How could she had been so blind as to fall into his trap even for a second when she knew…she knew…how Klaus Mikaelson did nothing else than manipulate her all this time. All he wanted was to exploit any weakness he could find in her. And she gave him the opening he had wanted.
Stupid naïve little Caroline. The rage grew and blossomed as did her pain. How could she have been worried about him? It was as if Klaus had obliterated her control and her rational side. Her common sense had been absent when the shots were fired. She had foolishly believed that Klaus had wanted to protect her. That this wasn't another one of his games and she had been worried for him when in reality she should have been praying for his death.
Mikael had been right all along. If Klaus died, she'd become a widow. All of her problems would be solved. She'd be free. She'd be free and he'd be dead.
Dead like…Jessie.
Oh God! Jessie was dead and she wanted to scream.
She felt everything turning. Cold sweat had covered her whole and she felt the bile rising threatening to pour out from her throat.
The need to throw up was overwhelming as was her need to scream.
She didn't scream. She wouldn't scream. She wouldn't fall down in pieces.
Keep walking. Keep breathing. Don't run. Don't throw up. Not here. Not now. Keep walking.
She walked past the curious gazes and even George's concerned one. She didn't believe her voice would work but it did as she tried to put the butler's worry at ease telling him that she was fine but she needed to go change her clothes and get a shower. She had all but ordered him to go and see if her husband needed anything instead. That would be enough to get rid of the old man that she had to remind herself that he was still working for the Mikaelsons and he was a means to an end. No one truly cared for her in this hellhole. No one and surely not her husband.
Just the thought of Klaus turned her stomach more.
His touch had affected her she remembered and now the memory alone made her feel sick. Sick and still it was as if something was devouring her. Something she didn't want but still coveted somewhere deep down.
She felt tears growing in her eyes and forced herself to drown them before they formed into actual rivers on her cheeks.
No, she wouldn't do that either. There would be no more tears. There would be no crying.
This was war and she had to choose different weapons.
Weapons that would hurt the Mikaelsons and not her.
She couldn't freak out again. She had to focus on the anger. She had to let the hate consume her whole and let it feed her desire to get even because it would be the only thing to fuel her. The only thing to keep her standing. She had to exile the images of Jessie lying dead in the pool of his own black oozing blood among enemies that rejoiced in his death. Among his killers.
Among his killers, Caroline thought bitterly barely restraining herself from rolling her eyes. It didn't matter who pulled the trigger.
Klaus did this.
He killed Jessie and turned this into a game and then she had played the same game and tried to make a political maneuver out of Jessie's death in the aftermath so to save the image that her hysteria over Jessie's death had hurt. Almost to the point of no repair.
Klaus was responsible for this and he had to pay. She had to make sure he would but even so the ache in her heart wouldn't fade away. Klaus had made sure of that too because according to him it was her that did this.
She was the killer.
That thought made her cold. Something precious was stolen from her. Jessie's life. Her life. Her heart.
Laura Montavaro's voice echoed in her ears.
"This kind of break will never mend."
"Oh, would you look at that!"
Caroline clenched her eyes shut at the sound of the mocking voice that made reality crash in on her harder than ever.
Rebekah was leaning against the door of the bedroom she shared with Klaus looking bored but Caroline could see that Klaus sister was enjoying this more than anything else.
She knew too. This was organized down to the last detail. This was why Rebekah kept her distance today.
And now Klaus' sister had an expression of absolute delight as she observed her freshly manicured nails with glee. Caroline tensed when Rebekah's eyes fell over her bloodstained attire with disdain and then her eyes sparkled with mockery and cruelty similar to only what Caroline had ever seen in a Mikaelson.
Caroline tried not to cringe but she didn't cower. Not even while the red shade Rebekah had painted her nails reminded her of blood and made her nausea worse.
"You did not think it would be that easy did you?"
That jab stang and Caroline understood it was a shot Rebekah waited to fire ever since the Midnight dinner.
And what was worse was that Caroline couldn't hide how the bullet had found its target. Straight to her heart.
She couldn't hide it but she wouldn't allow the wound to be fatal either. So Caroline focused on the only thing she could. On Rebekah's voice that was taunting and grated her nerves.
Anger was good a distraction sometimes. Something Guiseppe Salvatore never approved of but it would seem to be Damon's solution to most of his problems and maybe he wasn't wrong.
Caroline's hands curled into balls and she wanted nothing more than to point those fists on Rebekah's face in the way Damon had taught her to do a long time ago. In secret. Far away from Giuseppe and Stefan.
She had been only six by the time Damon got his hands on her and taught her how to pound punching bags with her little fists, laughing at her attempts until he taught her how to actually land some pretty solid punches. It had been one of the few fond memories she had from Damon. That was until he had started landing his merciless blows on her trying to teach her how this wasn't a game and her life could one day be in real danger and then she'd have to use her fists and her kicks to get out of a potentially life-threatening situation that would also require to handle a gun too.
Oh, how she wished she had a gun right now. She knew how to use one alright.
If Rebekah knew what was good for her she would keep her claws to herself because right now Caroline felt as if she was just one inch from declawing the Mikaelson princess for good and that thought alone scared her because she acutely felt its intensity more than anything else and from the looks of it Rebekah Mikaelson felt it too because her smirk faltered when Caroline approached her, stepping into Rebekah's face.
"Get out of my way," Caroline calmly said despite how that calm was nothing but a prelude to the storm that threatened to rage at any moment now.
Rebekah slowly regained her smile and with a sassy curl of her lips stepped aside letting Caroline enter her room.
"Such a pity though," Rebekah tsked with a tone that comically tried to come out as concerned instead of sarcastic while Caroline walked past her so to enter her room, "All that blood," Klaus's sister tutted, "Your shoes are ruined now."
Caroline slammed the door in Rebekah's face trying to breathe through her nose as Rebekah's laughter echoed distorted through the heavy door.
Caroline wanted to yell but instead, she swallowed down any sound and tried to think.
She had to think.
She couldn't allow this to cloud her judgment.
Damon was wrong. Anger was not the solution. It was not the answer either. She would have to tame it for now. She would have to store it. Only to use it when the time would be right. Klaus wanted her to either break or lose control. She couldn't allow this.
Caroline leaned against the door, her knees almost buckling, and with shaking hands turned the key locking herself in and everyone else out knowing that this privacy and sense of security was nothing but an illusion.
She wasn't safe. She would never be able to hide.
Rebekah's laugher faded at last and Caroline looked down realizing that Rebekah had been right.
Her beautiful shoes were ruined now. The blood and the mud from the gardens had ruined them.
Jessie's blood.
Caroline pushed her sweaty palm against her mouth before she realized that her hand too was drenched in Jessie's blood.
Caroline looked at her hands. She really looked at them.
So much blood.
She couldn't stand the sight so she looked away. To look anywhere else. To focus on anything else.
Only her eyes fell on the roses by her nightstand. Another gift from Klaus.
Red.
Red like blood.
This was too much for her queasy stomach and Caroline bolted towards the adjoining bathroom and before she knew it she had knelt down on the cold floor and emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl.
Her vision blurred, the world turned and she threw up everything, feeling the burn in her throat, her stomach twisting over and over again.
She leaned down on the floor feeling a sob racking her body. She shook her head. No. She couldn't cry. She wouldn't cry. She pulled her knees up to her chest and she stayed there shaking, horrified, defeated.
She didn't know how long she stayed there. Maybe it was for a few seconds or hours or days. All she knew was that trying not to cry was all that it took to lose it again and puke out all the poison until her body gave out and had nothing more to give.
She could barely breathe but she heaved and panted. She looked down and she realized she had left bloody handprints and footprints everywhere. It was like a brand that followed her.
An initiation, a voice whispered in her head and she shivered almost uncontrollably as suppressed memories of her brothers christened in blood as they rose in power to succeed her father came to mind.
Baptism by blood.
She pushed those thoughts and memories away with so much force that it knocked the breath out of her lungs and she struggled to breathe. The more she did that the more she realized that blood had a unique smell. A metallic taste. She had to wash it off.
With shaky legs, Caroline got up and went to wash her trembling hands.
She held on to the sink and tried to breathe. She closed her eyes but it was a mistake because all she could see when she dared to close her eyes was Jessie's dead body. All she could feel was Klaus's hands holding her in his arms, kneading her muscles and soothing her as she screamed and struggled against him. All she could feel was everyone's pity and disgust. All she could hear was Rebekah's and Kol's mocking laughter.
She looked at the mirror and gasped. There was a woman in the reflection she didn't recognize. She was pale and with red-rimmed eyes and there was blood on her face and hair. Tear stricken with traces of blood, tears, and mascara running down her cheeks.
Unrecognizable. Bloodthirsty. Gone.
Caroline stared at the reflection of that unknown woman almost mesmerized and she tried to wipe her face making the blood smear more around her lips and cheeks. She looked as if she was a vampire that had just gorged on blood and wanted more.
She wanted more.
Her stomach turned again, and Caroline splashed cool water on her face quickly reaching for one of the towels shoving it into her mouth to stop her from screaming or crying. She cleaned her face and looked down at the white towel. It was now tinted pink and red and she stared at it hard before she dropped it on the floor.
She looked at her hands and her hate returned with full vengeance. Because there was something that shone there too.
She took out her wedding ring and threw it in the porcelain sink. She scrubbed her hands raw and the water turned red and she watched as the bloody water swirled around the gold for a long, long, moment.
If there was darkness, if there was madness, if there was a tunnel that one could lose themselves in it this was it. She was deep in it. The web had trapped her and the spider ate her alive. It consumed her whole.
Klaus Mikaelson ate her alive and spat her out.
Caroline looked at the ring. Klaus spat her out and it was a mistake because he shouldn't eat her heart and expect her to be anything else than heartless.
There was a price to pay he had told her.
He had told her and she should have listened more carefully.
What happened today was a lesson. It had to become one even if it bled her dry and left her at the mercy of Klaus Mikaelson.
Soon, she promised herself. Soon. Perhaps in a day, a year or more, he would find out what her mercy meant too.
Her fingertips touched the gold ring and she steadied herself.
She took the ring and let it roll around her fingers in what she felt was a hypnotizing motion.
A reminder really. Of what that ring meant. Of what it really was. Of the reason why she was so unconsciously obsessed with it lately.
It wasn't grounding her. It was entombing her. It was changing her.
Caroline let out a heavy breath, took the ring and put it back in her finger. This time she didn't shiver. This time it wasn't like her wedding night. Putting the ring back on didn't feel like a curse or a death penalty.
It was only a necessity. It was what turned her into a Mikaelson and she wondered if the particular cruelty she had seen only in the Mikaelsons was something that she now shared too. Maybe it came with the name. It surely came with the blood and Klaus had drowned her in it too.
She stared at the mirror again.
No. This woman wasn't a stranger. She wasn't a mythical creature. She wasn't a broken thing either.
This was her.
Caroline composed herself as she slowly shed her blood-stained clothes that clung to her body like a second wet skin and kicked away her ruined shoes. Those she could replace. That was more than she could say about Jessie's life.
She wouldn't forget. She wouldn't forgive.
Caroline stepped into the shower and let the hot water cleanse away all the blood and all the death. The water was scalding but she didn't bother cooling down the temperature. She let the heat burn away the ice.
She had work to do. She had an engagement party to organize and a list to get.
She also now had a funeral to prepare and attend.
There was no turning back anymore.
This was her and she had to face her demons head on.
Klaus Mikaelson was her enemy. She had to remember that. To never forget it. To never let him manipulate her heart into believing otherwise.
He was more than just a demon though. He was the devil.
He was her enemy. Her husband. Her something she couldn't give a name to. Her something that tainted her, broke her, painted her red. Something that burned her, something that was hers.
Klaus Mikaelson.
Nothing but a monster wrapped up in a pretty, dangerous package but Caroline couldn't help but wonder if there was a monster lurking inside her too. Awaking from its slumber and starting to claw its way out. And maybe it hadn't been her heart that had been drawn to Klaus all along. Maybe it had been something else.
Entirely something else.
A pretty monster, just as dangerous, just as real.
A monster who when Caroline looked down at the blood washing down the drain… smiled.
And 'til this day, sometimes I cry
He didn't take the time to lie
Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
...Bang bang, my baby shot me down